Once upon a time a great deal of money used to buy a city flash architecture. Dunedin was built on the gold rushes of the 1860s. In the second half of the 19th century it was New-Zealand's premiere city.One man responsible for the look of Dunedin, Oamaru, and other places in the region was architect Robert Lawson. He designed First Church, Larnach Castle and Otago Boys' High School amongst other structures.
Unfortunately he came a cropper with his design of Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. Even before it has been finished there were land slips that rendered sections of the structure unsafe.After a glittering career Robert Lawson was forced to flee to Australia (how awful).
According to Michael King there were darker reasons that Seacliff was doomed:
"[Otago Maori] believed that the authorities had courted physical and psychic disaster by building the hospital over a tribal burial ground. According to this interpretation, the sturctural collapses, the fire, and the general air of terror said to prevail in the wards holding the most disturbed patients were all consequences of a failure to respect the ethos and the tapu of the location."
Wrestling with the Angel
Michael King (p.73)
5 comments:
Okay then, some more pop music if you must.
This building shouldn't be under the label: Dance.
Hey, permo boy, buildings can't dance.
It's under the label dance to keep the story together.
I'm trying to tell a story.
God, you're like me at a Wagner opera: "When are we getting to a good bit? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
Just relax, it's all part of a story. Nijinsky comes back soon.
Dunedin Railway Station dances better than you I bet.
Is "you I bet" a chinese lady?
Was that a joke mista?
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